AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 801, 13 July 1905, Page 20

AUSTRALIAN NOTES.

July 8. Early last month Mr. George Edwardes made another of his bids for popularity at the London Gaiety, with the production of a musical play adapted from the French, and rejoicing in the hilarious title of “ The Spring Chicken.” Mr. J. C. Williamson has acquired the Australasian rights of the piece. The scene is laid in Paris, first at. a lawyer’s office, then in the gardens of a suburban safe, and later in another interior. The central figures in the plot are a young married couple, of whom the husband displays each year, as the spring comes round, a distressing disposition to indulge once more in the delights of his days of bachelordom. Being otherwise the pattern of all a domestic treasure should be, the wife determines to break him of these lapses from the path of rectitude, and arranges wth her mother and the family solicitor that whenever her spouse begins to show his annual restlessness, a course of sleeping draughts shall be administered to him in ordeithat he may dose away his dangerous days at his own fireside instead of straying far afield. The idea suggests a multitude of farcical situations, which will be made all the merrier by a sufficiency of bright and catchy melodies. * * * *

The remaining weeks of Miss Nance O’Neil’s season at Her Majesty s Theatre, Melbourne, will be occupied by an interesting series of revivals, calculated to show the young American tragedienne at her best. She has always been highly appreciated in the eharacter of Queen Elizabeth, a part she undertook with much success on Saturday evening (July 1). . The drama will be succeeded this evening (July 8) bx In School for Scandal.” the piece wherein her Lady Teazle has commanded a wide circle of admirers. Then conl ® s the classical “ Ingomar,” and on July 22 Mi. Williamson announces an important production of “ Marie Antoinette, which has not been seen on the Australian stage for twenty years. Miss O’Neil herself will impersonate the tragic queen o Louis XVI. of France. A New Zealand tour has been arranged for Miss O’Neil, and a very few weeks will be spent in that colony before she leaves on November 13 for San Francisco, where she is booked to appear somewhere about Christmas time. * * *

Mr. J. C. Williamson Jias every reason to congratulate himself on his enterprise in sending the whole of the Royal Comic Opera Company “ on the long stretch from Sydney to Perth. At the latter town the performances are being supported most enthusiastically by the playdoing public, and full houses have been the rule ever since the crowded fiist

night. The company only remain a week longer in Perth, and then visit the goldfields before returning eastward. I lie Melbourne season commences on Augusu 26, after a three weeks’ visit to Adelaide.

The Repertoire Company, as the Gilbert and Sullivan Company is now designated, has been most cordially received in Sydney, and have had most favourable criticism bestowed upon both “ The Yeomen of the Guard” and ‘ lhe Gondoliers.” They finish in Sydney on the 14th inst., and then proceed to Brisbane for a short visit, opening in Mel bourne on August 5. After a tour or the Victorian country towns, they will (>o on to Adelaide and the West. " * * * *

“ Tom Moore” has achieved an even heartier reception in Sydney than it did in Melbourne. Air. Andrew Mack s popularity in it has been so great that the run has been extended to four weeks.

A few days ago Air. Clyde Meynell, who was Air. Beerbohni Tree’s representative out here when “ The Darling of the Gods” and “ The Eternal City were first produced, returned from London, bringing with him for Air. Williamson the Australasian rights of the dramatisation of Hall Caine’s latets novel, . Prodigal Son.” The piece will in all probability be added to the repertoire of the Knight-Jeffries Company, at some date in the near future. In London, it will in November next create a break m the ordinary season of melodrama at Drury Lane, and for the leading part Mr. George Alexander has been retained at a salary of £250 a week-—a remarkable evidence of Mr. Collins’ confidence in the of the domestic drama. Judging from the book, the drama should possess all the attributes of histrionic success, a strong story, powerful situations, and stirring climaxes to the various acts. The principal part is one which should certainly suit Air. Julius

Knight admirably, and one looks forward with pleasurable anticipation to the Australian production.

Air. Aleynell, in addition to the piece of business alluded to above, has completed all the preliminary arrangements for an Australian season of farcecomedy, the piece de resistance of which will be “ The J.P.,” played by arrangement with All - . J. 0. Williamson. lhe more important engagements have already been made, and include Air. J.J. Dallas, a comedian of no ordinary ability, and Miss Florence Lloyd, who was out here some years ago with the London Gaiety Company and made a decided hit with her Lord Clauside in the original Australian production »of “In Town.” 'The tour will commence at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, on September 15 next.

Air. Julius Knight has now practically emerged from the convalescent stage of his long illness, and will be quite ready for the opening season of the company in Adelaide on the 15th inst. “Monsieur Beaucaire” will in all probability be the initial production.

The grave of the late Dan Leno, the King’s Jester, in Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, is now marked by a handsome monument. It is in the form of a white marble cross, entwined with ivy, and bears the following inscription:—“ln loving memory of my dear husband, George Galvin, ‘ Dan Leno,’ who fell asleep October 31, 1904, aged 43. Here sleeps the King of Laughter Makers. Sleep well, dear heart, until the King of Glory awakens thee.”

Writing of Miss Dolly Castles, Alelbourne “Punch” says:—ft was hoped that during the New Zealand tour this young lady, who has the good wishes of a host of friends, would settle down into a steady style of singing. There is, how-

ever, no improvement to be noted. Her voice, in my opinion, is not properly “ placed,” and it is clear that there is something radically wrong with the manner in which it is produced and used. This must be remedied if Miss Castles is to have a career on the stage. If she keeps on singing as she is singing at present she may not have any voice at all in a year.

At the Sydney Tivoli, Mr. George Fuller Golden is now telling Casey stories in his own inimitable way. The entertainer gives us the very best brand of up-to-date Irish-American humour. Miss Maud Beatty, Miss Hilda Lane, Miss Alice Guerra, Miss Clarice Dudleigh, Mr. W. J. Winston (with McGinty), Bluett, Nat Travers, George Dean, and Irving Sales are also in the present bill. * * * *

Seldom, if ever, has a new and “ unboomed” singer created such a furore as Miss Jessie Mclachlan (says the “ Town and Country Journal”), the attendance at her closing concert in the Town Hall on June- 30 being such as to rival all records. Her programme numbers included two Gaelic songs, the soul-stirring “ Blue Bonnets,” with its crescendo march refrain. “ Angus Macdonald.” “ Killarney,” and “ Will Ye No Come Back Again?’- (Nairne), for which she was rapturously recalled ovei 1 and over again. The charming Highland soprano responded in the most generous manner, returning to the platform after her last s-vig with Mr. Buchanan (piano) and Mr. McLinden (’cello), the three artists combining their forces in “ Auld Lang Syne,” and the vast audience joining with enthusiasm in the last verse. Miss Maclachlan and her company, under the management of Mr. Frederick Shipman,

will now tour Queensland as far north as Charters Towers, after which there will be a return season in Victoria, and Tasmania will be visited on the way to New Zealand, en route for America.

Fitzgerald’s circus is playing to capital business in Batavia at latest advices. Patrons of Fitzgeralds' circus throughout Australasia will regret to hear of the death of Commodore. The pony was 27 years old, and had been connected with the circus since its inception. The brothers, in fact, considered him their Mascotte, and his death_therefore comes as a heavy blow. Everywhere the pony was an immense favourite—probably there was not a more widely-known or more popular horse in the Commonwealth. The skin is being preserved, while the hoofs are being made into mementoes, which will serve as heirlooms in the families of the enterprising brothers.

•• The Gondoliers” was originally produced at the London Savoy on December 7, 1889. and was destined to prove one of the most successful of the Gilbert and Sullivan series, the librettist and musician being at their best. Someone has said the opera is as “ spontaneous as the light-hearted laughter of the sunny south, and as luminous as an Italian §ky.” Sullivan’s musical wit delights, the orchestration displays rare musicianly skill, and the score teems with exuberant melody. As compared to “ The Yeoman of the Guard, “ The Gondoliers” is rollicking comedy as ’ against melodrama. In regard to the personnel of the first performance, it may be noticed that the part of Casilda introduced Miss Decima Moore to the stage, she being then only 18 years of age. Mr. George Grossmith having seceded from the company. Mr. F. Wyatt, as the Duke, and Mr. W. H. Denny, as the Grand Inquisitor. were the two comedians. Mr. Wallace Brownlow was Luiz, and Messrs. Courtice Pounds and Rutland Barrington the gondoliers, with Misses Geraldine Ulmar and Jessie Bond as the young wives. Miss Rosina Brandram was the Duchess. In Australia thq original production took place in 1891, and of that cast there have gone to join the great majority—Violet Varley (Tessa), Charles Ryley (Giuseppe), and William Elton (the Duke). It was on this occasion that Miss Florence Young made her debut as Casilda. Misses Elsie Cameron (the Duchess), Flora Graupner (Gianetta), Messrs. Henry Bracy (Marco), Howard Vernon (the Grand Inquisitor), and Sydney Deane (Luiz) were the other principals.

“ The Little Michtts,” produced in May at Daly’s Theatre, London, by Mr. George Edwardes, and which Mr. J. C. Williamson has promised will be staged in Australasia, either at the end of this year or the beginning of next, is spoken of by the “Era” as likely to prove, when judiciously pruned, to be “ one of the most perfectly pleasant, most completely agreeable entertainments in town.” The piece is a comic opera in three acts, by A. Vanloo and G. Duval, music by Andre Massager, and adapted for the English stage by Henry Hamilton. The

music is described as being of a sort which “ one can always listen to with a sense o p soothed satisfaction,” even if there are not particular numbers which evoke enthusiastic encores, or special scenes to be for ever remembered. As to the little Michus, they are schoolgirls who were “ changed at”—or soon after—their births. Monsieur and Madame Michu keep a glorified ham and beef shop in Paris. Years ago an old noble, named des Ifs, flying from the Revolutionary persecution, left in their charge a young baby girl to be brought up with the Michu’s child. The husband, in giving them a bath, managed to “mix the babies up.” This is where the play begins. The noble, now a Napoleonic general, returns and demands his daughter. Which of the two is his child ? One the General is determined to have to marry to his aide-de-camp, Gaston Rigaud; he leaves it to the Michus to decide “ Which is which.” The head of Marie Blanche—who is really Mademoiselle Michu. and who loves her parents’ shopman, Aristide Vert—is turned by a visit to the General’s chateau. and she announces that she is the aristocrat. Gaston is enamoured of the other damsel, Blanche Marie; but he obeys orders, and prepares to marry Marie Blanche. In the last act she finds she cannot sacrifice her love to her ambition, and dresses up Blanche Marie so as to reproduce exactly the portrait of the General’s late wife, the Marquise. He is convinced, and accepts Blanche Marie as his child, and the couples pair off properly.

By his composition of a waltz, the Khedive has (remarks the London “ Daily Chronicle”) shown that he possesses that musical ability which is prized by many Royal families in Europe. Queen Alexandra is an excellent pianist, and the King’s love of music is too well known to need mention. Princess Henry -of Battenburg has distin guished herself as a pianist and as a composer of songs, and hex- daughter, Princess Ena, inherits this talent. The late Duke of Edinburgh was a splendid violinist, and frequently played with the Royal Amateur Orchestral Society, which, by the way, was founded by him. The Crown Prince of Germany is also a violinist, and Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria played this instrument in the orchestra in a recent Wagner cycle at Munich. “M. de Hesse” is a name familiar to organists, though few are aware that it is the nom de concert of the Landgraf of Hesse. The princes of Saxony have been notable musicians for several generations, and their compositions are published by Breitkopf and Hartel. The majority of the military marches popular in Germany were composed by Frederick the Great, who also wrote three sonatos for flute and pianoforte.

In a recent number of the “ Saturday Review,” Mr. Bernard Shaw wrote of “Much Ado About Nothing”:—“Like all Shakespeare’s comedies, it contians nothing beyond the capacity of a child, except the ndecencies which constitute the staple of its badinage.”

A “ football” drama is now running in New York. The hero of “ Strongheart,” as the play is called, is one Billy Saunders, a “ large, vociferous, impulsive youth, with a picturesque vocabulary.” As played by Mr. Herbert Corthell, he walks the stage in full American footballing dress.

The critic of the “ Austrtlasian” is somewhat sarcastic in his remarks on “ The Fires of St. John.” A most extraordinary performance in every way was that on the first night of Sudermann’s “ Fires of St. John,” at Her Majesty’s, on Saturday evening (he writes). A magnificent house greeted Miss Nance O’Neil and her company in this, the latest, contribution to true dramaturgy, in our city. Everybody was pleased at the beginning, but as the play went on, it was amusing to watch the change in expression; puzzled interest succeeded the pleasure; then the puzzled look grew deeper, and was turned to bewilderment, brightened with a few titters and sniggers, and when the curtain fell, it fell on an audience in a state of mental fog, compared to which the daikness of Egypt was the brightest electric light. The play itself was partly responsible for this but chiefly the players, for it was plain that the majority of them had not the faintest glimmer of a comprehension as to what the whole meant, and, therefore, were quite unable to lighten the darkness of the amazed audience. Everybody should see “ The Fires of St. John” ere it is too late. It is a delightful experience, a remembrance that comes over one with silent laughter in a railway carriage or tram, and causes one’s fellow-passengers to look askance at one as a lunatic. The work, to begin with, is the work of a symbolist; all the dialogue has a hidden and second meaning, and must not, therefore, be taken at its face value. Such apparently simple remarks as “ the beer is on the ice” (a frequent observation during the play), or “how is the old cow?” have a

cryptic significance, which ought to thrill the listening ear. The conversation is all jerky, disjointed phrases, varied with gasps and gurgles, and by an occasional sermon by the pastor. Of course, there is a pastor, and a sewing machine also—they are Sudermann’s trade mark. The plot—who would be bold enough to unravel it ? The one thing not needful to a symbolist is—plain statement or a story, A play by a symbolist, acted by symbolists to symbolists, would be adequate. no doubt, and the airy elusiveness and suggestiveness of it all would catch the refined fancy of a specially picked house; but when a not too comprehensible symbolism is attacked by just ordinary mimes, who have not specially prepared themselves for the intellectual feat b yprayer and fasting, but just stolidly go through it like big game crashing through a jungle, the effect is as one sees in the present imbroglio. The late Dan Leno in one of his xn° s t inimitably humorous sketches used to take a letter from his pocket, and proceed to read aloud to his hearers the words which his sweetheart had written him. He began, “ Dear George,” and then relapsed intomurmurs; then began again, “Dear George,” and for about five minutes he kept everybody laughing at nothing but “ Dear George.” That is about all the plot of “ The Fires of St. John.” It might be called “Dear George; or the Beer is on the Ice.”